House of Rock show features We Came as Romans

When We Came As Romans recorded its 2008 debut EP, “Dreams,” the group approached the project with a do-or-die attitude.

“Dreams” was either going to get the band off the ground, or the band was going to crash and burn and the group members would go to college and get on with their lives.

The EP did what it was supposed to, allowing We Came As Romans to tour nationally and paving the way to deals with management, a bigger booking agency and a deal with Equal Vision Records.

These days, that sort of uncertainty doesn’t surround We Came As Romans, which plays Friday night at the House of Rock. The band is coming off a successful first full-length CD, “To Plant A Seed,” and is established enough to headline the first tour the group is doing behind its recently released second CD, “Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be.”

Does that mean the band members can exhale now, and no longer feel the pressure and urgency that started with “Dreams” and extended into “To Plant A Seed”? Not really, according to guitarist Joshua Moore. Yes, the band, which formed in Troy, Michigan in 2005, is in a good place and its future looks bright. But there was still plenty at stake with

“Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be.”

“We had a really good start with ‘To Plant A Seed,’” he said in a recent phone interview. “But once you start, you have to sustain and you have to be moving forward. I think we did a really good job of that just by setting goals, always having something to reach for. And once we attain that, to keep moving and have goals after that.”

The goals for the latest CD were different from they were for “To Plant A Seed” — and reflected the different stages in the life of the band, which also includes vocalist Dave Stephens, singer/keyboardist Kyle Pavone, guitarist Lou Cotton, bassist Andy Glass and drummer Eric Choi.

What defines We Came As Romans is the positive messages in its songs — something that’s fairly rare in the

metalcore/aggressive rock genres. The title “Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be” relates very directly to the overall theme of the CD, according to Moore, who is the band’s primary songwriter.

“It’s about figuring out how to be happy with the life that you’ve chosen, trying to be the person that you want to be and figuring out how to be happy with that and how to retain that happiness, how to not be constantly be searching for a different thing that’s going to make you happy based on the day of the week,” Moore said.

That encouraging spirit is something the band tries to bring to its live performances, as the band works hard to involve its fans in the live show through its music, a strong visual presentation that uses backdrops and a light show and the energy and spirit the band members themselves bring to the stage.

“We’ve always tried to be a real inclusive band live, always trying to keep our fans moving as much as we are,” Moore said.